States look at ways to tax guns, ammo

New revenue will help pay for victims' care and other programs

4:24 AM,
Apr. 7, 2013

Written by

Judy Keen
| USA Today

Cook County, Ill., this month began collecting a $25 tax on gun purchases, and at least six states are considering new taxes on firearms or ammunition as a way to help pay for the consequences of gun violence.

The Cook County tax applies to purchases in Chicago's suburbs, but not the city. The tax is expected to raise $600,000 a year, which will help pay for indigent gunshot victims' medical care at county-run Stroger Hospital.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, a Democrat, said 30 percent of the hospital's trauma patients have gunshot wounds and it costs about $52,000 for initial ...